This week in security news

The U.S. government's multibillion-dollar drive for homeland security has produced a boom in antiterror technologies. It has created problems ranging from industry confusion to lack of basic accountability, and privacy concerns are higher than ever.

In a three-part special report, CNET News.com examined how strategic conflicts, rampant confusion and miscommunication are slowing counterterrorism efforts; how multibillion-dollar security initiatives have given rise to a new industry seemingly overnight; and how cutting-edge data mining and other intelligence tools are redefining privacy as we know it.

Privacy breach
An August intrusion into a social researcher's computer may mean that more than a million Californians need to call the credit bureaus.

A hacker accessed a University of California, Berkeley, computer system that had names and Social Security numbers of about 1.4 million Californians, in perhaps the worst attack of its kind ever suffered by the school.

The computer was being used by a U.C. Berkeley researcher who had collected data on elderly people and individuals who provide in-home care to seniors. The data, which included home addresses, telephone numbers and datess of birth, was being used at the state's authorization but without the consent of the individuals whose information was being used in the study.